Time to Rest
by Singstar4
Summary: After her initial article in The Sun on the Newsies Strike, Katherine is suddenly flooded with work. Of course, she's thrilled, but is it too much for her? Feat. sick!katherine and caring!jack. Enjoy!


**A.N~ hello friends! So I made the mistake of drinking a coffee at 10:00, so I'm probably going to be awake way longer than I should today. As a result, I figured I should write a long overdue fanfic! This past year has been crazy, but I'm back now, fam! So here we go!**

 **Prompt: After her initial article in The Sun on the Newsies Strike, Katherine is suddenly flooded with work. Of course, she's thrilled, but is it too much for her? Feat. sick!katherine and caring!jack. Enjoy!**

Katherine sits at her desk in her home office, painstakingly typing out article after article for the Sun. Her desk is a cluttered mess, sheets full of notes, takeout menus, coffee mugs, anything and everything that proved she hasn't moved from that exact spot for at least 24 hours.

It isn't her fault, really. The editors at The Sun were extremely pleased by her Newsboy Strike article. They were impressed not only by her honest take on the situation, but also that she had gotten the exclusive herself. According to her boss, she "took initiative and had great promise." Finally, she'd been moved up from the fluff pieces that usually dominated her routine to serious topics. The poverty in the city, the harsh factory conditions; she had even done a piece where she interviewed the Mayor!

The best part is that since no one knows who she truly is, no one has shut her down yet. The only person that knows is Pulitzer himself, but he's most likely too busy trying to quell the strike, that he hasn't bothered to notice what the Sun is printing. _Now as long as it stays that way,_ Katherine muses to herself, _we should be in business._

With a flourish, she finishes her 3rd article of the night, stopping to refill her typewriter with more parchment, take a swig of her now-cold coffee, and start up on her next article.

 **How long will this Strike continue?**

This is the question that plagues many of the New Yorkers, especially since the Newsies movement is gaining speed, fast. At this point, half the paper companies in the city have shut down printing. At least for the time being. Katherine is lucky she had chosen to work for The Sun. Because they are one of the only News outlets that reasonably pay their Newsboys, making them more reluctant to strike.

 _If I could just get these articles done before those boys start revolting,_ Katherine rationalizes, stopping to cough into her elbow, _I can hopefully reach some of them that are still on the edge._

More than anything, Katherine just wants to help the boys. It makes her smile thinking of all of them standing out in Times Square, defiantly staring down her Father's building. She blushes, thinking of Jack, and all of his passion for the cause.

Then as if she summoned him, a knocking on her window jolts her back to reality and she starts, hand on her heart. She turns to see Jack standing on her fire escape, his newsboy cap covered in a thin layer of snow. He smiles at her as she hurries to the window and pulls it open.

"You know, you scared me half to death!" She cries, making him chuckle. "I was in the zone, Jack!"

"Well, if ya could get outta 'the zone' and let me in, I'm freezin' out here." He chuckles, trying to work his way into her apartment.

"I don't know if I want you here tonight." She pouts, turning away from him, sneezing almost for emphasis. "I have a lot of work to do, and I don't have any time for your distractions tonight."

"Not even if I said I brought ya a gift?"

She turns, ready to tell him off, and he's holding out a delicately woven scarf. It's colors blend softly from dark blue, to sky blue, then to a sea foam green, before settling into a forest green hue. She gasps at the sight of it, and opens the window wider for Jack, letting him in.

"Oh Jack." she trails off, taking the scarf in her hands. Not only was the color scheme gorgeous, but it had flecks of silver embedded in it, making the scarf sparkle when the light hit it just right. She ran the garment through her hands, she realizing something. "How did you afford this?"

He chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. "Well...it took a couple of weeks, but I got the dough to get it for ya. I saw it in Medda's Green room and I just knew that would look great on ya. I couldn't really afford it at first, but she thought it would look great on ya, so she gave it to me for $5."

"It is beautiful." She stares down at the scarf, but suddenly all she sees is how much it cost Jack. She thrusts it towards him, blushing so hard it feels like her face is on fire. "But I can't take it. I would feel too bad depriving you of your money!"

But he shakes her off, smiling that dazzling smile of his. "Keep it, it's ya Christmas present."

"But Jack, I-"

"I'm serious, Ace." He smiles warmly at her, taking the scarf and wrapping it around her neck. He turns her, so that she is facing her reflection in the window. "Ya look beautiful."

She opens her mouth to respond, but all that comes out is a series of coughing. She grips her middle and wheezes, trying to get her breath back.

"Ace, ya okay?" Jack asks, concern thick in his voice. Katherine grips his arm, the room starting to spin, and he leads her to her desk making her sit at her chair. "I'll get ya some water, wait here."

She nods feebly, still wheezing from the sudden fit. She shivers, wrapping her arms around herself, wondering why she suddenly felt so tired and miserable.

In a flash, Jack is back with a glass of water and a blanket and before she can protest, he wraps it around her. Immediately she starts to overheat, and pulling the blanket off. "Katherine, you'se shivering. Are ya okay?" He asks, seriously concerned as he tries to keep the blanket around her.

"I'm fine," She protests, waving him off and turning back to her typewriter, "I just need to finish these last 5 articles in the next 3 days."

Jack stares at her, suspicious, as she continues to tremble in front of him, while rifling through her notes. Without warning, he lays his hand against her forehead, causing her to sigh with relief at his cold touch. "Hon, ya feel real warm. I think you may got a tempature."

"Jack, really I'm alright." She protests, but he can hear the exhaustion in her voice. He frowns as she continues to type, clearly straining her eyes and energy with the effort. "I just need to finish this."

"Alright, well I'm gonna make ya some tea," he says, still unconvinced. As he crosses to her kettle, his eyes wander over her desk, littered with papers and old food wrappers. "Have you been goin like this all week?"

She nods fervently, continuing to type, "My Boss assigned me a lot of stories to cover for the print in a couple of days, so I have to get them all done." She sighs, pushing her hair out of her eyes before continuing, slower.

"Why are ya workin so hard?"

"Because those boys out there need to join your fight." She sighs, turning to him. "And as long as The Sun is printing, I need to try to reach out to them. I can't just sit here and do nothing while all of them freeze out there, trying to figure out whether or not to fight."

"The Sun treats their boys okay." Jack argues, crossing his arms over his chest.

"They do," She agrees, running a hand over her face. "But, they need to be able to make their decisions for themselves. You boys can go out there and be on the front lines, but this," She gestures to her typewriter, "is how I can help. So, I'm gonna work as hard as I can to help."

Jack watches as she slowly deflates, trying to figure out how to word the rest of her article. It hurt him to see her struggle, but what could he say? He's been the same about his job in the past, working through broken limbs, illness, hunger, fatigue, you name it. But he's never seen Katherine this stressed since he met her.

He sighs and resigns to busy himself straightening up her kitchen, stacking her papers into neat piles, worrying about the last time she's eaten. Then the kettle is shrieking, pulling him out of his reverie. He quickly makes her a cup and takes it to her. As he places the steaming mug of tea in front of her, he notices the dark circles under her eyes, and sighs, kissing her temple.

"Thank you, honey." She murmurs distractedly, her hands over her eyes. He frowns, rubbing her back.

"Ace, do ya want dinner?" He asks, worry seeping out of him. She shakes her head, and leans against him.

"Too tired..." she murmurs, muffled against his leg. She takes a deep breath, and then springs back into work, shaking like a leaf. Finally, Jack can't take it anymore and decides to take action.

"Ace, don't hate me." He says, placing a kiss on her feverish head. Before she can respond, he lifts her from her chair and pulls her into his arms easily. Between her thin frame, and her weakened state, she's no match for his strength.

"What are you doing!?" She shrieks, flailing weakly as he carries her to her bedroom. He calmly sets her down on the bed and holds her there for a minute. "I was almost done! How dare-!" Suddenly she starts to cough again, trembling in his arms.

"Honey, this is exactly what I'm talkin about." He sighs, rocking her back and forth. "You'se pushin ya self too hard. You're gonna burn out, if ya not careful."

"But...I-I have to-" Katherine starts to fade, clearly fighting exhaustion as Jack lays her down on her plush bed.

"Shhh," He soothes her, brushing her bangs back from her head. "You just calm down and try ta rest, okay? It's late, and you'se been workin way too hard. I'm gonna go find meds and a thermometer, and try to make us some grub. Okay?"

She sighs and nods, wanting to fight back, but knowing when she's beaten. "Thank you, Jack."

He smiles and puts a finger to her lips. "No more talkin', alright? You just take a rest and I'll be back." He bends down and kisses her forehead before leaving her room in search of her first aid kit. Katherine lays there, her eyelids heavy.

 _I have the best boyfriend in the world._ She thinks as she finally drops off to sleep.

 **A.N.~ It's been awhile since I wrote my other JackxKatherine story,** _ **Snowy Nights,**_ **and I thought maybe I'd re-work the troupe! I hope you guys like it!**


End file.
